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Bring your lunch and join us for a conversation with Council Member Kristerfer Burnett on Wednesday, March 15th from 12-1pm at Impact Hub Baltimore, 10 E North Avenue, Baltimore, MD 21202

Kristerfer Burnett represents the 8th District of the Baltimore City Council, one of two of Baltimore City's western-most districts. The 8th District draws its boundaries at Liberty Heights, Hilton Parkway, Edmondson Avenue, Frederick Avenue, and Wilkins Avenue. It includes the neighborhoods of Ten Hills, Hunting Ridge, Edmondson Village, Hillsdale, and portions of Beechfield and Yale Heights.

Kristerfer Burnett, a lifelong Baltimorean, lives in the Edmondson Village community where he and his wife, Vanessa, are third-generation homeowners. He was educated through both the Baltimore City and County public school systems. After graduating from the Kenwood High School's "Sports Science Academy" magnet program, he went on to the University of Maryland-College Park where he earned a Bachelor's Degree in African-American Studies with a concentration in Public Policy. He then earned a Masters Degree in Public Policy at the University of Maryland Baltimore County.

Kristerfer's journey into community organizing began at a young age as he watched as his grandmother organize her neighbors in effort to save their neighborhood from the expansion of Johns Hopkins Hospital in East Baltimore. He carried those lessons with him as an undergraduate, serving as a founding member of the student-led social justice advocacy organization, Community Roots.

As a graduate student, Kristerfer concentrated his studies on issues of affordable housing policy, urban development and improving K-12 academic outcomes in low-income communities. During that period, he was also selected to serve as the Public Policy Student Senator for the UMBC Graduate Student Association and as a graduate research assistant at the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene.

Immediately after earning his Master's Degree, Kristerfer was hired as community organizer for the Service Employee International Union (SEIU) "Good Jobs, Better Baltimore" campaign. The campaign,a coalition of unions, churches, and community groups, pushed for livable wages, corporate accountability, and increased investment in our communities.

He was featured in the 2014 Baltimore Social Innovation Journal for his work doing leadership development workshops for community leaders through the Neighbors Without Borders of Greater Southwest Baltimore, organization he founded in his community. With the goal of unifying Southwest Baltimore neighborhoods, Kristerfer organized several town hall meetings--all of which were resident-led and focused on gathering the community's vision for their neighborhoods. This resulted in the creation of the Community Roots Leadership Development Academy where residents are trained on being change agents for their communities; and the Edmondson Village Farmers' Market at Edmondson-Westside High School. He was also honored by the Daily Record as being one of the "20 in their Twenties" for his work as a community organizer in Baltimore City.

About Impact Hub

Impact Hub Baltimore is a community of people working to improve the city, connected through coworking and inspired programming. We are committed to building an innovative and inclusive local economy that advances equity and addresses the city’s complex challenges.

Be on the lookout for more Better Baltimore events...

Better Baltimore is a civic innovation event series creating space for citizens to learn about and discuss change at the local level. It is accompanied by a data visualization exhibition of local data from Baltimore Neighborhood Indicators Alliance in order to establish a common understanding of neighborhood disparities in Baltimore.

All events are free and open to the public.

We're offering free coworking on all days we host Better Baltimore events. So come early, stick around, take a tour, and see what it's like to cowork with us. Learn more at http://baltimore.impacthub.net/apply